The caller told investigators their nephew had eaten a banana that contained what looked like blood and that they believed someone may have injected blood into the fruit, according to KSHB-TV.
A team of technicians descended on a Hy-Vee store in Independence where the banana was purchased to conduct tests.
This story is bananas 🍌@ipdinfo is reassuring residents tonight there was no human blood found in a banana at a store: https://t.co/7FrHsf0KrL pic.twitter.com/QJiGi7BCHr
— 41 Action News (@41actionnews) August 28, 2019
Referring to the “suspicious banana call,” Independence police said in a social media post that “preliminary tests did not detect the presence of blood in the banana.”
The store removed all bananas as a precaution and worked with investigators on the testing, KSHB reported.
"This incident is still under investigation but the discoloration is believed to be related to a produce-related fungus that can occasionally show up in bananas," police said, according to the news station.
The banana will be sent to a lab for more testing, but it’s possible the discoloration is related to a fungus.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said there are a number of plant diseases that can cause red discoloration on the inside of the fruit, but that none pose a risk to humans.
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